Past, Present and Future
by KatieGirl901
Summary: He wanted to ask her why she had married him because for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. He couldn't figure out why the woman in front of him, the smart, sassy, gorgeous woman who had given him five children had married him. Part Four of the Tomorrow's Family Series.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_"__So, let's get married."_

It was those four words, followed by a shrug, that brought them to be standing in front of a judge in a small room in the large City Hall in downtown Washington DC. It wasn't how she imagined her wedding as a child by any means and it certainly wasn't how she thought she'd be spending her Saturday morning but she knew it was necessary.

She was terrified that they were making the wrong decision, that they were rushing into something but she was more afraid of losing their kids or being out of control if something ever happened to either of them. She knew that this 'marriage' did nothing to protect their legal right to Jake and Ava but it did give them more control when it came to Dani and Kelly and their legal rights to make decisions about each other if something were to happen.

She felt Gibbs take her hand in his and offered him a small reassuring smile as he silently asked her, for the one hundredth time, if she was sure. Her eyes moved over to Ducky who was acting as their witness, and the only person who actually knew they were getting married.

"Would you like to say your own vows?" The judge asked, looking between them.

Jenny nodded silently. She had never even considered marrying Gibbs, she hadn't wanted to be the fifth Mrs. Gibbs but she knew that it was what they needed to do at that point in their lives, especially since it was the best thing for their family. Although she had never imagined this particular situation she knew two things for sure, that she loved the man in front of her, even if she hadn't told him, and that she was willing to fight to make sure that they could make this work. She refused to be another divorce.

"I, Jennifer Morgan Shepard take you Leroy Jethro Gibbs to be my lawfully wedded husband. You are my best friend and my partner and from this day forward my husband. I promise to encourage you, to laugh with you and to comfort you. I promise to be with you in good times and bad, when life seems easy and when it is hard, when our life is simple and when it takes effort. I promise to be the best mother to our children that I can be and to stand by you no matter what. These things I give to you today and for the rest of our lives."

She smiled again when she felt Gibbs squeeze her hand and watched him swallow before opening his mouth to speak.

"I, Leroy Jethro Gibbs take you, Jennifer Morgan Shepard to be my lawfully wedded wife. I promise to be your comfort when life is hard and your partner at all times, through the good and the bad I promise to be your partner and your best friend and to be the best father to our children that I can be. I promise these things today and the rest of our lives."

His vows were shorter than hers but no less meaningful and she had to blink back the tears that clouded her eyes. She knew he didn't make those promises lightly and even with his divorce record she knew he was standing in that room for the same reasons she was, to protect their family and each other, even if it wasn't exactly what they had had in mind when they had started their relationship.

"Then by the power vested in me by the District of Columbia I pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride."

Jenny smiled into the kiss when Gibbs wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a gentle and chaste peck on the lips. It wasn't what she had imagined or even what she had particularly wanted but it still felt right.

"I'm still not taking your name." She whispered as she pulled back.

Gibbs chuckled as he stepped away from her and rolled his eyes, "really didn't expect you to, 'sides you already use my name half the time anyway."

She rolled her own eyes at him but had to concede to his point, she used his name for security purposes at the school and half of Kelly and Jake's friends, Mitch and Maddie included, called her even though she had tried to insist on Jenny.

"I want a divorce." She muttered.

"I think that is a record, even for you, Jethro." Ducky commented with a laugh.

"Thank you again for coming to be a witness, Ducky." Jenny changed the subject.

"I wouldn't miss it my dear, it has been a long time coming although I do hope that you will eventually have a ceremony with the entire family present."

"Maybe eventually." Jenny hedged, "Right now we just want it to be quiet, and really it's not like we weren't basically married before, this was more to make sure that legally we would be covered if something happened to either of us or the kids."

"I know." Ducky replied gently, "And I understand your decision of course, I just wish you could have shared the joy with everyone."

"It would've been too much right now, Duck." Gibbs replied.

"Well if you two do ever decide to have another ceremony." The judge interrupted, "I want to be the officiant."

Jenny laughed, "You've got it Bill."

She had known the judge for well over twenty years, they had graduated high school together and had gone to Georgetown together, him for law and her for Political Science. She had chosen him to preform the small ceremony because she knew he would understand the need for discretion and their reasons for getting married, even if they weren't the conventional reasons.

"I just need you both to sign a few more things and to get Doctor Mallard to witness them but after that you're free to go." Bill replied, "any big plans for a honeymoon."

"A dinner with my mother." Jenny deadpanned.

"Well if she's cooking that sounds pretty good." Bill stated.

Gibbs snorted, "she's not, our daughter's making supper."

"Well if she cooks like her Grandmother then you're good to go."

Jenny laughed and rolled her eyes as she signed everywhere Bill pointed out.

It took them half an hour to complete the paperwork and another ten to say goodbye to Ducky before they were alone in the car together.

"You good?" Gibbs asked, looking across the seat at her.

"Fine." She replied with a shrug.

She saw his raised eyebrow and reached across the seat to grab his hand, "Really, I'm fine." She assured him.

"No regrets?"

"No." She replied slowly, "It wasn't a church wedding with a white dress and all of our friends and family and it definitely wasn't something I would have ever considered if we didn't have kids but I don't regret it." She added honestly, "it's not like we weren't basically married anyway, this just makes it legal… Do you regret it?"

"No." He replied, squeezing her hand, "you look good, even without the white dress."

She smiled and looked down at her dress, a knee length, long sleeved, pale pink lace dress that hugged her curves and made her look at least a few years younger. She didn't wear it often, if ever, but she didn't own anything white and 'real' marriage or not she didn't feel right getting married in black.

"Thank you, you don't look too bad yourself."

He was in one of his nicer black suits with a navy blue shirt and black tie on, she loved him in a suit and that one was quickly becoming her favourite.

They fell into comfortable silence and she idly stroked her thumb back and forth across his knuckles as they drove home. All of the kids were out of the house for the afternoon so they didn't have to worry about anyone seeing them in their fancier clothes when they returned home and Jenny laughed when Gibbs pulled her back into his chest as soon as the front door was closed, his lips falling to the side of her neck.

Her laugh quickly turned to a quiet moan as his lips found the sensitive spot behind her ear and she tilted her head to give him better access before weaving her hand into his hair to hold him in place.

"You're starting something we don't have time for." She muttered after a minute, "Kelly will be home with my mom and Sarah in less than half an hour and Diane is dropping Jake off around the same time."

Gibbs pressed his palm more firmly against her stomach to hold her in place as she tried to step away but finally relented. He knew she was right and besides they still hadn't crossed that line and he definitely wanted to take his time when they finally got there, and he didn't want to risk being overheard either, he fully intended to have her screaming his name.

"If you wanted to do that we should have considered a honeymoon like normal people." She teased lightly.

"We're going to New Orleans on Monday." He pointed out.

"For work." She rolled her eyes, "and we're taking Tim and Special Agent Clarke with us so I seriously doubt you're getting lucky… Not that I would object." She added, her voice slightly unsure.

"Yeah?" Gibbs asked.

He kept his voice neutral and she appreciated it, he had never once tried to pressure her and she loved that even though she had given him the green light he was still treading carefully.

"Yeah." She replied a bit more surely, "I'm not saying tonight-"

"Wanna make it special." He cut her off.

"I don't think we need to do rose petals on the bed." She replied with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, she tilted her head up and pressed her lips to his, "I just really want to be able to tell you _exactly_ how much I'm enjoying it." She muttered against his lips.

She heard him groan quietly and pressed another firm kiss to his lips before pulling back, "I'm going to go get changed." She replied with a small wink.

She turned around and managed to get about two steps away from him before he broke out of his trance and grabbed her wrist to pull her back against him. She laughed but the laugh quickly turned to another moan as he pressed her against the length of his body and let his hand stray down to settle against her ass.

She opened her mouth as he deepened the kiss and let out another quiet moan as she ground against him.

"Fuck." She muttered softly as he pulled her more roughly against him.

She let him continue for another minute before pulling away from the heated kiss to catch her breath, "we need to stop." She whispered breathlessly, "I will gladly let you take me against any flat surface you want, but not today… Not the first time."

He dropped his head to her shoulder and nodded, his breath coming in soft pants, "I know."

"I'm going to go get changed… You should go take a cold shower." She glanced down and then back up at him with a small grin, "or a hot one… Whatever." She added with a cheeky grin and a shrug.

Gibbs rolled his eyes at her and lightly swatted her ass as she walked away, she made her way upstairs to their bedroom and grabbed a change of clothes. She walked down the hall and into the kids bathroom to change to give Gibbs space to grab a shower in their bathroom. She hopped in the shower and quickly rinsed off before pulling on a pair of dark wash jeans, a loose white tank top and an army green cardigan. Her hair and make up were already done and she quickly touched it up before letting herself out of the bathroom.

She was hanging her dress back up in her closet when she felt two strong arms around her waist.

"Hey, Mrs. Gibbs."

She rolled her eyes at his teasing tone and gently elbowed him in the stomach, "You're not funny."

"The kids think I am."

"No they don't, they just don't want to hurt your feelings."

She felt him snort against her neck and rolled her eyes, "Do you have everything packed for NOLA?"

"Nah, I'll throw everything in a bag Monday morning."

"You give me anxiety." She deadpanned, "Everything is ready to go for supper so I'm going to pack my bag now, I doubt we'll have time tomorrow."

"Do you want me to go put the chicken in?" Gibbs asked.

"Please." She replied, "I'll be down in fifteen minutes, my sister should be here around the same time as my Mom."

"And Dani and the baby?"

"Stan is dropping them off."

"What were they doing again?" Gibbs asked from the doorway.

"Stan and Ziva took them to do something, I have no idea what."

"We're great at this parenting thing."

"_Hey" _Jenny replied mock indignantly, "We have a lot of kids and we know where half of them are, I think that's pretty good."

Gibbs snorted and pushed himself off of the door before disappearing downstairs.

N*C*I*S

Jenny rolled her eyes as Heather eyed the picture of her and Gibbs in army fatigues disdainfully, her sister had been in her house for all of three minutes and she was already ready to kill her. She winced as she heard the front door fly open and slam against the wall.

"Jacob Isaiah!" She called.

"Sorry, Mom!" Jack called back.

She could hear him kicking off his shoes before the door closed in a much softer manner.

"Aunt Diane wants to talk to you." Jake informed her as he entered the living room, Emily and Diane Fornell in tow.

"Diane." Jenny greeted cordially, "What can I do for you?"

They had never gotten along well but they had slowly gotten a bit better since Emily and Jake had become pretty much inseparable.

Diane nodded in greeting, "I was just wondering if I can trade next Friday night with you two."

"That's fine." Jenny replied with a shrug, "Can you take Monday, Tuesday? Jethro and I are in New Orleans for work, Stan is babysitting the kids with my mom but it would help out if you did Soccer practice."

"That's fine, is Kelly still good to take Wednesday?"

"Yes, as long as Tobias is fine with Thursday and Saturday still." Jenny replied, trying to keep the days straight in her head.

"Can we go play?" Emily interrupted.

"Don't interrupt your mother and I when we're speaking." Jenny chastised automatically, "Five minutes." She added when Emily gave her her best puppy eyes.

"Tobias should be fine with it as long as you and Leroy can cover the Friday, we both have plans and he has meetings on the Wednesday."

"One of us will pick them up, I don't know what my schedule is but if I can't Kelly or Jethro will."

"Okay perfect." Diane replied, "He had lunch and a snack but I'm sure he'll be hungry for super."

"He's always hungry." Jenny rolled her eyes, "I'm just glad we had three girls and one boy instead of the other way around or my grocery bill would be insane."

"I'm sure Leroy is thrilled with being surrounded by women." Diane deadpanned.

"I don't mind it." Gibbs stated as he walked into the room, "Heather." He nodded to the youngest redhead in the room.

"Jethro." Heather replied neutrally.

"Okay, I'm heading out." Diane announced, "The kids don't have anything tomorrow, right?"

"No." Jenny replied, "We're moving my mother into her new place."

Diane nodded, and gestured for Emily to join her when the seven year old bounded down the stairs and over to Gibbs. She wrapped her small arms around Gibbs' waist and Gibbs pulled her against his side.

"Did you have fun today?" Gibbs asked, ruffling her hair.

"You're messing up my hair." She scolded, "and yes."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, "You sound like your mother." He muttered.

"You make that sound like a bad thing." Diane said, "Come on, Emily, we need to get going."

"Okay." Emily sighed as she released Gibbs, "Bye Aunty Jenny, bye Uncle Gibbs."

They exchanged quick goodbyes and Diane and Emily were just getting into the car as Kelly pulled up with Lydia and Sarah.

Jenny leaned against the open front door and waved to her daughter, niece and mother, smiling softly as she listened to them laughing as they got out of the car. She felt Gibbs come up behind her and placed her hand over his when he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Maybe we don't let the shedevil in our house anymore." Gibbs muttered close to her ear.

Jenny snorted, "If we had an option then yes, unfortunately you made bad life choices and now we're raising our kids together."

"_Tobias _made bad life choices." Gibbs corrected as the small group approached them.

"Ah, Hello, Mija!" Lydia exclaimed as she pulled Jenny away from Gibbs before wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Mami, you're squishing me." Jenny gasped, "You saw me two weeks ago."

"That doesn't mean I didn't miss you." Lydia replied, stepping back and holding her at arms length, "You look thinner, and exhausted." She turned to Gibbs accusingly, "Are you not taking care of my daughter?"

"Mami, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself-"

"It is your husbands job to help you." Lydia cut her off.

Jenny rubbed her hand over her eyes and sighed, "Mami, Jethro takes excellent care of me, we just have young kids and a new baby, things are busy right now, I'm fine I promise."

Lydia narrowed her eyes and looked at Gibbs, "You'd better be taking care of my baby."

"Always." Gibbs promised seriously, his hand pressing more firmly against her stomach.

Jenny gave his hand a squeeze and smiled up at him.

"How was your flight?" Gibbs asked.

"It was good, it was even better when I saw who was picking me up." Lydia replied, smiling at the two teenagers who were pulling Lydia's two suitcases from the trunk of the car, "I would still like to see my other grandchildren and my youngest hija."

"I'm right here, Mami." Heather announced, stepping around Jenny and Gibbs to give her mother a quick hug.

"You look as good as ever, Mija" Lydia announced as she eyed her youngest daughter.

Jenny rolled her eyes and Gibbs gave her hip a gentle squeeze.

"You look good to me." He whispered in her ear so only she could hear, "Kelly why don't you and Sarah bring your Aboulita's stuff up to her room."

"Sure Daddy." Kelly replied, "is supper almost ready, Mom?"

Jenny smiled and nodded at her oldest daughter, it still gave her a small thrill every time the teen called her Mom or any variant of it. She didn't know what had brought on the change and they hadn't discussed it since Kelly had done it for the first time the week before.

"Probably only another half an hour." Jenny added as the girls walked past her into the house.

Jenny and Gibbs stood outside the door as everyone filtered passed them into the house.

"It's gonna be fine." Gibbs muttered to her.

"I wish you had siblings." She replied sarcastically.

"No you don't, because then you'd have to deal with them."

Jenny considered it for a moment and then nodded, "that's a fair point… Do you mind dealing with my family?"

"Nope." He replied quickly, "they're part of the package."

"I think you should've put more thought into marrying me." She responded quietly.

"Nah." He said confidently.

He tilted his head down and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

She turned, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. She listened to his heartbeat and sighed happily as he ran his hands over her back.

"Let's just stay out here forever." She whispered against his shirt.

"Tempting, but no." He replied.

She could almost hear his smirk when she tightened her arms around his waist and nuzzled her nose into his chest.

"Okay." She sighed before loosening her arms.

Gibbs released her as she stepped away and she offered him a small smile before leading the way into the house. She found everyone except for Kelly and Sarah gathered in the living room.

"Where is the princessa?" Lydia asked.

"She and Dani are with Stan." Jenny replied, "they should be home shortly, would anybody like something to drink."

"I wouldn't mind a glass of wine." Heather said.

"I might have a bottle in my office." Jenny said slowly, "if not I'll text Stan and have him pick something up on his way."

"_You_ don't have wine?" Heather asked incredulously.

"No I don't." Jenny replied without giving anything away, "Jethro can you call Stan and ask him to pick something up, I'm going to check on supper."

She knew Stan wouldn't pick up any alcohol for her, not when he knew she wasn't drinking but he would pick it up for Gibbs. She appreciated his commitment to helping her, even if she was thirty-nine years old and perfectly capable of going to buy her own alcohol.

In the kitchen she checked on the chicken and turned on the pot of potatoes on the stove, she heard a stool scrape across the floor and turned around to see Lydia sitting at the counter.

"Do you need something, Mami?" She asked, not unkindly.

"You're sister didn't mean any harm, Mija."

Jenny rolled her eyes and sighed as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel. "I don't particularly care what Heather _meant_, Mami, she is in my home and all she's done is criticize my family and how we choose to live… I'm trying to make this work, trying to make my family, my relationship with Jethro work and having someone standing around questioning it isn't helping."

"Your children and your husband all worship the ground you walk on, I've never seen a man more in love than Jethro, and no amount of questioning from _anyone _is going to change that."

She understood what her mother was trying to do, she appreciated the effort but something about how she had worded it just made her sad.

"He cares but he doesn't love me." Jenny whispered with a small shrug.

"I don't believe that for a minute." Lydia replied firmly as she reached over the counter to squeeze Jenny's hand.

She offered Lydia a small half smile before stepping away from the counter just as Gibbs walked into the room.

"I am going to go and see my Granddaughters." Lydia excused herself.

"Stan'll be back in fifteen minutes, he's stoping to pick up wine." Gibbs told her, "He said the girls really enjoyed the bird sanctuary."

"That's what they were doing?" Jenny asked disbelievingly.

"I guess." Gibbs replied with a shrug, "According to Stan Ziva had a better time then all of them."

"Tali loved birds." Jenny stated quietly, "She had this book about ornithology that she would read to us, it drove everyone nuts but she loved it, Ziva found the book after Tali… Died… and started reading it again."

She bit her lip as she teared up at the thought of the sweet little girl, her brown eyes shinning as she told Jenny and Ziva about all of the different types of birds in her book. The only person who had genuinely enjoyed the conversation had been Ari who would sit for hours and listen to Tali rattle on, a small smile on his lips.

"Hey." Gibbs whispered softly.

"I'm sorry." She swiped at her eyes quickly.

She felt Gibbs' arms wrap around her as he pulled her against his chest.

"I'm fine." She reassured him, "This is just a bad time of year."

"I know." Gibbs muttered against her hair, "why don't you take a break, go outside for a bit."

"No, I'm fine, supper isn't going to make itself."

She shot him a warning glare when he opened his mouth to make a jab at her cooking, "I know you too well, don't even try."

"Married for a day and no mystery left." Gibbs muttered.

She placed her hands on his hips and eyed him up and down with a raised eyebrow, "I'm sure there are a few mysteries left."

"Yeah?" He asked huskily.

"Yeah." She whispered, leaning up to press her lips to his, she nipped his bottom lip and pulled back.

She looked up at him and smirked when she saw his lidded eyes and slack-jawed expression, she kissed the side of his jaw and ran her hand through the hair at the back of his neck.

"You doing okay there, Gunny?" She asked teasingly.

She felt his grip tighten on her hips as soon as the last word passed her lips and she dropped her head to the middle of his chest as he yanked her closer to him.

"You doing okay there, _Director_?"

"I hate you." Jenny muttered against his chest.

She felt him drop another kiss to the top of her head and gave her hips one last squeeze before stepping away from her.

"Go, let me finish supper." She ordered, "Go socialize with your in-laws."

Gibbs rolled his eyes but wandered out of the kitchen, leaving her alone to let her mind wander as she finished supper.

She gave the potatoes and carrots another quick stir before putting down the wooden spoon as she heard the front door open.

"Honey, I'm home!" Stan's voice echoed throughout the house, "and I brought your children back."

Jenny snorted as she wandered into the living room to find Lydia attempting to hold Ava in one arm and hug Dani with the other.

"I brought your favourite." Stan said holding up a large paper bag.

"Stan, I don't-"

"I called Decker, sparkling cranberry and apple cider." Stan interrupted her, "he said it's your favourite."

"It is." Jenny replied, taking the bag from him and accepting a kiss on the cheek with a smile, "are you two staying for supper?" She asked, looking between Stan and Ziva who was off to the side quietly talking to Gibbs.

"You sure?" Stan asked, his eyes darting to Heather.

"Yeah." Jenny replied, "you brought the good stuff so you get to stay."

"Gee, you're so generous, little sister." Stan teased, "but since it smells good I'll stay, you good to stay Ziva?"

Ziva looked up from her conversation with Gibbs in slight surprise but nodded after a moment.

"If you do not mind."

"The more the merrier." Jenny reassured her, "and judging by what's in this bag, Stan bought your favourite wine."

"I know." Ziva replied with a small smile, "I picked it out."

Jenny took in her small smirk and couldn't help but think about how much Ziva had grown up since Tali had passed, she had always been mature for her age but losing Tali and every other tragedy in her life had aged her well beyond her twenty-five years.

"That's my girl." Jenny said quietly.

There was a soft smile on her face but she knew it didn't quite reach her eyes as she watched the woman in front of her smile at Gibbs.

"Supper will be ready in ten minutes, everybody go wash up." Jenny ordered, rolling her eyes when she got a purposefully sloppy salute from Ziva, "I raised you better than that Ziva David!" She called after her as all of the kids, Ziva included, bolted up the stairs to wash their hands.

"What did she just say?" Gibbs asked when Ziva called back something in Hebrew.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Jenny replied.

Gibbs pursed his lips and nodded, "I'm not gonna learn Hebrew."

"Probably a good idea." Jenny agreed, "put the time into teaching her how to throw a ball like a normal human being instead."

"An impossible task."

"But an excellent father, daughter bonding activity." Jenny countered, "One that she looks forward to, now, everyone head into the dining room."

She ignored the eye rolling she received from all of the adults as she herded them towards the dining room before continuing on to the kitchen, Heather close on her heels.

"Need any help, Red?" Stan called from the dining room.

"No, I'm just bringing everything out." Jenny replied as she grabbed a serving platter out of the cupboards.

"Is there a reason you invited two random people to what was supposed to be a family dinner?" Heather asked.

"Is there a reason your standing in my kitchen being bitchy?" Jenny countered, "Ziva and Stan _are _family, and I told you to stop questioning my family in my home."

Heather raised an eyebrow at her but Jenny refused to back down, she pulled the chicken out of the oven and placed it on a cutting board.

"If you want to stand there you can mash those potatoes."

She sliced the chicken and placed it on the platter as Heather silently mashed the potatoes, Gibbs appeared a moment later and dug around in a drawer before coming out with a bib for the baby.

"Do we have wine glasses anywhere, Jen?"

"Should be up in the cupboard there." She pointed to the cupboard beside the sink, "can you make sure that Ziva and Stan put their guns in the safe before we eat please."

"Yup."

She finished plating the chicken and handed Heather a bowl for the mashed potatoes before carrying the chicken and carrots out into the dining room.

"Jethro, there's a basket of rolls on the counter, can you grab them?"

Gibbs nodded and pushed his chair back to go in search of the aforementioned rolls, he returned a moment later with the basket and a bowl of green beans just as Jake, Ziva, Kelly and Dani all wandered into the room to take their places at the table.

"I know I said that this table was too big when you bought it but I believe we might need a bigger one." Ziva commented as she sat down in her normal spot.

"I don't think we have room for a bigger table." Kelly replied with a laugh as they started to pass around plates.

Jenny carefully cut up a bit of chicken and added a scoop of cooled mashed potatoes and diced carrots to a small plastic plate before placing it on Ava's highchair tray, silently hoping that the baby didn't throw her food like she had been doing as of late. She decided to take the temptation away and put just a little bit of everything directly on the clean tray instead, a little bit was easier to clean up then a whole plate pitched at a wall.

She ate her food and listened with a fond smile as the kids regaled Lydia, Ziva and Stan with everything that had been going on as of late. Kelly and Jake were doing most of the talking with Dani adding a word or two here or there and Sarah would toss in an anecdote about her life in LA when it was relevant.

She took a sip of the sparkling cider and looked down when she felt Gibbs place a hand on her thigh under the table. She shot him a discrete smile and returned to her meal. They were almost done eating when a cell phone started to ring. She knew it wasn't Gibbs' she recognized his ringtone and she raised an eyebrow when she saw Ziva peaking at her cellphone.

"It is Eli." She explained when she saw Jenny's raised eyebrow.

"Again?" Jenny asked through gritted teeth.

"If I do not answer-"

"Take it in the kitchen." Jenny cut her off, "I want to talk to him when you're done."

Eli David was really starting to get on her nerves, he had never been involved or even really interested in his daughter's life but he had been pushing and pushing for Ziva to return home at the end of the month, now only a week and a half away. She didn't trust him as far as she could throw him and his persistence was really starting to put her on edge, judging but the way Gibbs was griping her thigh he was feeling the same.

Ziva nodded and pushed her chair back and left the table, answering before she was out of the room with a polite but cold 'Shalom'.

Conversation stalled for a moment after Ziva left the room but was quickly picked up again. Jenny had just finished the last bite of her meal when Ziva rejoined them, taking her seat at the table.

"He said he was busy." Ziva explained quietly when Jenny glanced her way, "He will call you tomorrow."

"I'm sure he will." Jenny muttered.

She hated when Eli called her during work hours because then it was a call between the directors of two agencies and not two people who had essentially raised two kids together. She actually had to be cordial when she spoke to him at work and not call him an ass like she so desperately wanted too.

"He wishes to revise your agreement." Ziva added.

"No." Jenny replied firmly, "We made the agreement before I left, he doesn't get to change it now because it suits him, I'm not playing that game with him again."

"I told him you would not be receptive."

"We'll talk about it later." Jenny stated when she noticed Lydia, Stan and Heather watching them, "Stay here tonight." She added in Hebrew.

"I will be fine." Ziva assured her in English.

Although she honestly didn't think Eli would try anything on American soil she knew he didn't hesitate when it came to having his daughter followed and surveilled and she would feel better if she and Gibbs could be around if something happened.

"Is there dessert, Mommy?" Jake asked from his end of the table.

"I made pie." Jenny replied with a smile, "Kelly can you and Dani gather up plates while I go get the pie?"

Her daughter's both nodded, Dani significantly less enthusiastic than her older sister but Jenny didn't have the energy to acknowledge the minor show of attitude.

"After supper can you and Kelly play your Lion King song?" Jake asked as the girls started to clear plates.

"We'll see." Jenny hedged.

"Lion King song?" Sarah asked with a glint in her eyes.

"We were goofing around the other night and made a medley of all of the songs." Kelly explained, "it actually sounds pretty good, especially if you can get Mom and Uncle Stan to sing it, they do a pretty great duet."

"Come on, Shep, it'll be fun." Stan added.

"We'll see." She repeated again, "Jethro can you wipe her face and hands please?" She asked, looking at Ava who was absolutely covered in mashed potatoes.

Gibbs eyed the baby and stood up, taking her right out of the highchair, "Might be easier just to do it this way." He stated, carrying the giggling baby into the kitchen.

Jenny gathered plates, spoons and ice-cream together and brought them into the dining room before returning to the kitchen to grab the pies. When she walked back into the kitchen she found Gibbs leaning against the counter cuddling Ava to his chest with a peaceful expression on his face.

"She's getting so big." He stated quietly.

"I know." Jenny agreed, running her hand over the baby's back, "I'm going to miss this when she's older."

She really didn't want another baby, as much as the idea of a child that was half her and half Gibbs appealed to her, she knew it wasn't even in the realm of possibility and she was perfectly happy with the four they had, she wasn't sure she could even handle a fifth and she knew for a fact that she couldn't handle another pregnancy.

Gibbs wrapped his free arm around Jenny and pulled her against his side, dropping a kiss to the top of her head as he did so.

"You ever thought about another one?"

She looked up at him in surprise, her eyes wide and her mouth open but no sound came out. Kids, outside of the ones they had of course, had never been discussed between them, as far as she knew they were both on the same page on the topic and that was a firm no more… No matter how much she loved the baby stage.

"Are you going to come out here before the ice cream melts?" Stan's loud voice interrupted from the dining room.

**Saved by the Stan… Welcome back all! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, there was a lot going on but I wanted to get right back into the swing of things, I love to hear from you guys! Now… This story will be considerably more Ziva centric because I feel like Jenny's time in Israel really shaped her as a person but THIS IS NOT A ZIVA STORY… Okay I'm good now… Thank you guys again so much for all of your support!**

**~Katie**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

He let the sound of the sandpaper sliding across the wood soothe him. The barn behind the tree line wasn't his basement but in a way it was better, it was devoid of bad memories. The only memories he had in there were good ones, Jake and Emily playing in the loft after he had insured it was safe, Dani sitting on the work bench watching him work, only speaking to make the occasional comment or to ask a question. His mind wandered as he worked on shaping the headrest of the rocking chair he was making Jenny for Christmas.

He stood up and stretched the crick out of his neck as the side door to the barn opened to reveal Jenny, her hair still falling in soft curls around her shoulders that told him she hadn't showered yet. He smirked when he saw his oversized red hoodie falling off of her small frame.

"That little space heater really gets the job done." She commented, her eyes landing on the narrow piece of wood in front of him.

He was silently grateful that the remainder of the chair pieces were safely tucked away in the loft and that the piece in front of him didn't give anything away. It was rare that Jenny ventured out to the barn, even rarer since the weather had turned from cool fall weather to borderline freezing winter weather.

"Kids all asleep?" He asked, putting down the sanding block he had been holding.

"Yeah, the baby just went back down."

She wandered around for a moment, taking in all of the carpentry equipment he had brought over from his basement, almost everything except for his boat which he didn't plan on moving any time soon, before she took a seat on a free sawhorse.

"I told my mom about… Karen?" She trailed off, "I don't even know what to call her."

Gibbs took a step towards her and took in her tired expression and exhausted eyes, "what'd she say?"

"Not a lot." Jenny replied, "she wasn't thrilled that the woman who broke my father's heart and abandoned my sister and I is going to be living in the house she worked so hard to make a home but she didn't freak out."

He stepped closer to her and rested his hands on her shoulders, trying in his own silent way to reassure her, he shifted when she leaned against him and wrapped his arms around her. He used to love their size difference, the way she could easily tuck herself against his chest but holding her in his arms now he realized exactly how small she felt. She had lost weight in the last year, they had all been able to see it but he hadn't realized exactly how much she had lost until that moment. She had always been petit but she felt almost fragile in his arms, he knew she didn't eat well when she was stressed and things had been more stressful than ever as of late, he only hoped that it was only stress and nothing else. Stress he could deal with, stress he could help her with.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah." She replied tiredly, "I think I'm going to go to bed though."

"I'll be in in a few minutes, just gonna clean up."

"Keep working." She replied, waving her hand dismissively, "you don't get to spend a lot of time out here."

He didn't spend a lot of time in the barn, or working on anything carpentry related anymore but he didn't mind it. It had been an escape before Jenny and the kids, now Jenny and the kids _were_ his escape, carpentry had become what it was when Shannon was alive and Kelly was little, it had become a hobby again and it made him love it even more.

"Nah, I'm ready to come in."

He wanted to tell Jenny what he had been thinking but although he had made strides in talking about his feelings and just talking in general he couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

She nuzzled her nose against his chest before jumping off of the sawhorse and stepping away from him, "I'll leave the lights on for you."

She tilted her head up and accepted the small peck on the lips he offered her before turning around to leave.

"The sweater's a good look on you." He called after her.

He shook his head indulgently when Jenny winked at him before letting herself out of the barn and back into the cold air.

It only took him ten minutes to clean up his work space, he turned off the space heater and shut off the few lamps he had scattered around the room. He made his way back to the house and realized there was one thing he missed about his basement, it was in his house and there was no cold walk.

He kicked off his shoes and quietly made his way up the stairs, he peeked into each of the kids rooms to make sure they were all still asleep and he realized that the cold walk to the barn was well worth it if it meant that he had his kids.

He let himself into the bedroom and saw Jenny already curled up in bed, _his kids and his wife, _he mentally corrected himself.

"Are they all still asleep?"

"Yep." He replied as he pulled off his sweatshirt and tossed it on the bench sat the end of the bed.

"You're going to fold that." She muttered without opening her eyes.

"Yes dear." He replied, his voice soft but sarcastic.

He could almost hear her rolling her eyes as he grabbed a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt from a drawer. He paused beside the bed on his way to the bathroom and bent over to drop a kiss on the top of her head before continuing on to the bathroom.

He showered quickly and brushed his teeth, his mind wandering to the woman sleeping in the other room. The word wife, with one notable exception, had always caused a small spark of panic, a realization that he had made a mistake, but with Jenny it wasn't there. When he thought of the word wife associated with her it brought on a sense of calm, a sense of love that he hadn't felt in a long time.

He finished up in the bathroom and turned off the light before heading back into their room. He crawled into bed and rolled over so he was on his side and shuffled so he was pressed against Jenny and wrapped his arm around her waist.

"You're feeling cuddly tonight." She commented.

"Can't cuddle my wife?" He asked against the back of her neck.

He knew she was always surprised when he tried to be affectionate with her, he had never been an overly affectionate person but with Jenny he liked to have her close, he liked knowing she was safe and the easiest way to do that was to have her as close to him as possible.

"I never said that." She replied, rolling over to nudge him onto his back so she could wrap her arm over his waist and tangle their legs together, "your wife just prefers to cuddle this way."

He chuckled quietly and shifted again when she moved so she was practically laying on top of him.

"You're warm." She commented drowsily.

"And your feet are freezing."

"That's why I married you… You keep me warm."

The words were slurred with sleep but they still made him smile softly as she drifted off against him.

N*C*I*S

"I thought you did that yesterday." He commented as he walked out of their bathroom, his eyes landing on the open suitcase in front of Jenny.

"I was just adding a few things." Jenny replied, "I made a change to my security detail."

"Okay?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and attempting to shake more water out of his still damp hair, "am I still going?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, you were assigned to this over six months ago."

"Okay, so what changed?"

"I switched Special Agent Clarke out for Ziva." Jenny replied, "I need two agents there specifically for security, Tim is there to hook up all of Prides new SCIF and tech stuff and to make sure everything is secure so he doesn't count."

"Why switch Clarke for Ziva?"

"Eli's making me nervous." She admitted quietly, "I'd feel better if Ziva was with us, and besides, as good as Clarke is we both know that Ziva is better on a security detail."

"You sure it's a good idea bringing me?"

As much as he wanted to go with her and see Pride, Linda and Laurel he didn't want it to negatively affect Jenny.

"You're our resident Senior Special Agent, you're there to make sure everything is up to par in the new office… If it were up to me I'd rather you stay here with the kids and Leon knows that but it wasn't my choice."

"Way to make a guy feel wanted." He said with a snort.

"Oh relax." She teased, "I know my mom and Stan will be fine, I'd just feel better if it were you, you're their father you know them better than anyone else."

"I think Kelly knows them better than anyone else." Gibbs corrected with a small grin.

Jenny conceded to that with a nod, "but Kelly's a bit distracted by a certain tall, dark and handsome young man."

Gibbs rolled his eyes at Jenny's assessment of the nineteen year old but didn't comment on it, he was slowly getting used to the idea of his baby dating, even if Mitch hadn't exactly asked Kelly out yet but it was slow going and he still wasn't thrilled by the idea.

"It's not like he's making a move." He muttered.

"He asked our permission two days ago, Jethro, give the man a chance."

"He's not a man." He muttered, glaring at his wife.

Jenny rolled her eyes and kissed the top of his head, "Okay, baby." She muttered soothingly, "I'm going to say goodnight to our daughter, you need to pack."

"Bossy."

"Yup." She agreed with a small smile.

He wrapped his hand around her thigh and gave a gentle squeeze before releasing her, she gave his shoulder a squeeze and he caught a glimpse of her wedding rings as she lowered her hand.

"You want a new ring?" He asked suddenly.

"What?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at his random question.

"Do you want a new ring?" He asked somewhat sheepishly, "since we actually got married."

She looked at her hand and spun the rings on her finger, seeming to study them.

"No." She replied, "These ones have a story behind them, besides I didn't marry you for the ring."

He wanted to ask her _why _she had married him because for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. He couldn't figure out why the woman in front of him, the smart, sassy, gorgeous woman who had given him five children, six if he counted Ziva who wouldn't be in his life without Jenny, and who had made their house a home had married him.

"Still can't figure that out." He muttered.

She leaned down so her mouth was next to his ear, "I married you because I think you're cute."

He glared at her as she stepped away, "I am not _cute_."

"Fine." She countered over her shoulder as she walked towards the door, "adorable."

He opened his mouth to respond but she was out of the room before he could even make a sound. He rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly, he rolled his shoulders in an attempt to loosen his tight muscles before standing up.

They had spent the day moving Lydia into her new house, a small rental one neighbourhood over from them, a fifteen minute walk for the kids or a two minute drive. Even though he was still in good shape the woman had a huge amount of heavy boxes full of knickknacks and other assorted items and by the time they were done everyone was sore and exhausted.

He pulled a spare bag out of their closet, their overflowing closet between both of their work clothes and Jenny's collection of shoes, and set it on the bed before packing everything he would need for the three day trip.

He was doing up the zipper when there was soft knock on the partially open door. He looked up and nodded a silent welcome to his daughter.

"What's up, Kel?" He asked when the teen wandered into the room and flopped over on the bed.

"Nothing, just taking a break from my books." Kelly replied, "you and Mom are going to have your phones on you incase we need you right?"

Gibbs glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye at the use of the word 'mom' but he didn't comment on it.

"Yeah, we left a list of other numbers on the fridge, your Aboulita and Uncle have all of the numbers too." Gibbs replied.

He watched his daughter twist her hands in her lap, her long red hair falling in messy curls around her shoulders.

"But that's not why you came in here." Gibbs stated, "What's up, Kel?" He asked again.

"Remember that talk we had… Right before Dani moved in?"

"Need a bit more than that, Kel." He prompted gently.

"About Jenny… and Mom… and you said that there was nothing saying that I couldn't have two moms." Kelly replied, "I realized that I never asked you… Is it okay with you if I call Jenny Mom?"

He stopped messing with the zipper on his suitcase and turned to fully face his daughter who was looking at him with wide eyes and hesitation written all over her face.

"If it's not okay with you-"

"It's fine with me." Gibbs replied sincerely, "Like I said nothing sayin' you can't have two moms and Shannon wouldn't want you to push someone you love away just to honour her."

"Yeah?" Kelly asked, her eyes meeting his, searching for any sign that he was lying.

"Yeah." He assured her with a small nod, "Jen's just as much your mom as Shannon is… She loves you just as much as your mom did."

"I know." Kelly whispered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

Gibbs saw the long sleeved shirt she was wearing in a new light, and every time he saw her wearing a sweater or a cardigan, even when it was warm enough in the house that everyone else was wearing t-shirts he had to remind himself to breathe. Now that he knew what the fabric covered he had to remind himself that even if he hadn't been there to protect his baby the scars on her arms were not his fault. The reminders were just as much for his own sanity as for Kelly's. He didn't want his daughter to think he thought any less of her, that he believed that the scars made her less in his eyes because they didn't.

"I think she's lost more weight." Kelly commented quietly after another minute.

Gibbs took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah… I think so too."

He wanted to reassure her, wanted to tell her that Jenny was fine but they had decided a long time ago that they wouldn't lie to Kelly, she was too good at seeing right through it, she had a bullshit detector that rivalled his and Jenny's combined.

"I want to help her." Kelly said, "but I don't know how."

"There's nothing you can do right now." He replied quietly.

It wasn't particularly reassuring or helpful but it was the truth, he knew that the stress of trying to balance work and family was getting to Jenny not to mention the stress of having her biological mother just popping up out of nowhere and her sister showing up on her doorstep, and everything that was going on with Ziva but honestly didn't know how to help her.

"She seems worse the last week or so." Kelly replied, "I noticed that Ziva wasn't herself today either."

"Ziva's little sister died in a suicide bombing, the anniversary is in a couple of weeks." Gibbs replied soberly, "She and Tali were close… Jenny practically raised Tali from the time she was twelve."

"How old was she when she… Died?"

"Sixteen." Gibbs replied with a small sigh.

"Oh god…" Kelly whispered, "Poor Ziva… Poor Mom, how can somebody lose two children and just keep going like that?"

Gibbs looked down at the ground and tried not to mull over his daughters words.

"I'm sorry, Dad." Kelly said as soon as she realized exactly what she had said, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, your mom's a lot stronger than anyone gives her credit for." Gibbs interrupted her, "She kept going because Ziva needed her to and now she keeps going because of you and your sisters and brother… That doesn't mean it's easy for her though."

"I just wish there was something I could do." Kelly replied helplessly.

"Treat her like a normal person." Gibbs replied, "Don't treat her like she's broken, or like she's going to shatter any minute… Tell her you love her, tell her that you see what she does for you even if she does it quietly… It doesn't have to be a big thing, Kel… Your mom appreciates the little things."

"Okay." Kelly replied, "Thanks, Daddy."

"Anytime, Kel."

**A little bit of cute and a little bit of angst to ramp up for tonights episodes... Slibbs here we come (yes I am aware that this is probably not the most appropriate place to put that lol )... I hope you all enjoyed and I love hearing from you guys! I own nothing... :(**

**~Katie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

She watched the colourful buildings pass out of the car window with a small smile, it had been a long time and she had almost forgotten how much she loved New Orleans.

"It is rather colourful." Ziva commented in the seat next to her, "and busy."

Jenny nodded her agreement, it was only four in the afternoon but already the streets were teeming with people, nowhere near the level they would be by later that evening though.

"Just wait until tonight." Jenny replied, "We'll have to go out for a bit, give you a taste of NOLA after dark."

"I cannot wait." Ziva deadpanned, obviously unimpressed with the idea. "What is the plan again?"

"Today we're just looking at the office, tomorrow we're going to see what their lab and M.E's office look like." Gibbs replied from the drivers seat.

"I have to run diagnostics on all of their computers and set up the cameras in their interrogation room." Tim added from the passenger seat.

"And we are staying at a hotel not far from the office?" Ziva asked.

"Yes, it's almost within walking distance." Jenny replied.

"McGee and I can room together." Ziva offered.

Jenny met Gibbs' eyes in the mirror and tried not to laugh at the way he wiggled his eyebrows at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"If your sure you don't mind." Jenny replied slowly, "Or you and I can room together, a break from el jefe might be nice." She teased.

"Hey." Gibbs muttered indignantly.

She reached forward and squeezed his shoulder, "Kidding."

She saw him roll his eyes in the mirror and let out a small laugh.

"I do not mind if McGee does not mind." Ziva said, interrupting the silent exchange.

"Fine by me." Tim pipped up from the front seat.

She wasn't sure if he actually didn't mind or if it had more to do with the not so subtle glare coming from the drivers seat but she appreciated it none-the-less.

"Well thank you." She replied as Gibbs pulled up to the gated parking lot of the NCIS New Orleans field office.

He flashed his badge to the guard and pulled through the old gates.

"Their office has more character then ours, that's for sure." Tim commented, looking around at the old wrought iron gates and the small cobblestone parking lot.

"What, Cheeto orange walls aren't enough character for you?" Jenny asked with a smirk.

"They are certainly… Blinding." Ziva replied as she climbed out of the sedan.

Jenny climbed out her side of the car and straightened out her black dress pants, before fixing her light blue blouse and beige sweater. Although it was still chilly it was significantly warmer in New Orleans than it was in DC and she carried her jacket over her arm, not quite willing to put it on even if it was only fifteen degrees Celsius.

She looked around the small parking area and nodded to the security guard with a polite smile.

"My Brother!"

Jenny turned to face the man who was now walking towards Gibbs and smiled as she watched the two men embrace. If you didn't know otherwise they really could have been brothers and Jenny loved watching the way both he and Gibbs interacted, there were few people Gibbs relaxed around and Dwayne Cassius Pride made the top of the list, next only to Mike Franks.

She watched the shocked looks on Tim and Ziva's face, Ziva's much more concealed than Tim's but there none-the-less.

"And of course my gorgeous sister-in-law." Pride stated when he pulled away from Gibbs to face her.

"Hey, King." She replied, grinning as she stepped into his open arms.

"I think you get prettier every time I see you, Darlin'." Pride commented, "If he's not careful I might just have to steal you away."

"Alright hands off." Gibbs growled good-naturedly.

Pride stepped back and held his hands up with a wide grin that was so perfectly… _Pride_ that Jenny couldn't help but laugh.

"Dwayne this is Officer David and Special Agent Tim McGee." She said, gesturing to each in turn.

"Nice to meet ya both, I've heard a lotta good things."

The three exchanged handshakes before they followed Pride into the building. Her eyes wandered around the large open space, the concrete floors covered with old rugs, the exposed brick walls and wooden catwalk into the loft area.

She knew a lot of the field offices reflected their local areas but this space was true to the city it resided in and true to the man who ran the office, from the beads hanging over the desk lamps to the kitchen she could just glimpse in the back. There were a couple of leather arm chairs set up in front of a bookshelf by what she assumed to be Prides' desk and there were boxes of computers just waiting to be set up.

"It looks good." Jenny commented.

"Definitely more relaxed than our office." Tim added, "can you show me where your S.C.I.F is?"

Pride lead the way to the room and allowed Tim to look around before showing them the conference room and storage room.

"Alright, show us your kitchen." Jenny teased, "We know you're dying to."

Pride's eyes twinkled as he lead the way into the kitchen, gesturing to show off his setup.

"See while you're here I can teach ya to cook."

"Hey!" Jenny protested, "I know how to cook."

Pride looked over at Gibbs with a raised eyebrow but he just raised his hands.

"She's actually getting better." He said, "Kelly's been teaching her… Our house is still standing."

"I'm impressed." Pride replied, giving her a proud once over.

"I'm so glad." Jenny deadpanned, "I live to impress-"

"Hey, King!" A male voice with a heavy Alabama accent called, "I talked to JPSO, file transfer is all ready to go but there are a few we can't find."

The voice rounded the corner into the kitchen and revealed the man it belonged to, a tall man, about Tim's age, short dark brown hair and an infectious smile.

"Hey." He said, nodding to the small group.

"Christopher, Special Agents Gibbs and McGee, Officer David and Director Shepard."

She saw the smile waver in Chris' smile as he realized he was standing in front of his bosses boss and she offered him a small smile.

"It's nice to meet y'all." He said nodding to Gibbs, Tim, and Ziva before turning to Jenny, "And you as well Ma'am."

She heard Gibbs snort quietly before quickly schooling his features to be unreadable, she saw Ziva and McGee exchange a small glance, probably wondering how she would proceed.

"It's nice to meet you as well Special Agent Lasalle." She replied formally.

"I thought that Christopher could join us for supper, give you all a chance to get to know him."

"Uh, King I don't-" He glanced over at Jenny.

"Pride what time is it?" Jenny interrupted.

"Just about 1700, _Ma'am." _The last word brought a small quirk to his lips as he realized exactly what she was doing.

"I'm calling it a day early." She stated before turning to Lasalle, "It's nice to meet you Special Agent Lasalle, my name is Jenny, do you prefer Lasalle, Christopher or something else?"

"Uh, just Chris is fine, Ma'am." He replied, eyeing the redhead uncertainly.

"No need for the Ma'am stuff after hours." Jenny replied, brushing him off, "I like to keep work separate from my personal life."

"Well since you're calling it a day we may as well head back to my place, I left everything for Linda to get supper started but I wanna be there to oversee everything." Pride said with a smirk, "Are you gonna stop at your hotel first?"

Jenny looked down at her suit and nodded, "Do you have a dress code for tonight?"

"Casual." Pride replied, "Our M.E and lab assistant will be joinin' too, give all of you a chance to get to know them."

"Sounds good." Jenny replied, "We'll meet you over there in half an hour?"

"Perfect."

**Hey Everybody! So I wrote this before the last two episodes of NOLA aired (Nola fans will understand why I'm sad rereading it) I didn't love this chapter as a standalone so I'm posting the next chapter with it, I hope you all enjoy it! I hope you all enjoyed and I love to hear from you!**

**~Katie**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

He held open the front door to Pride's house as Ziva, Tim and Jenny all filtered past and watched with a small grin as Jenny greeted Laurel and Linda.

"Hey, Music Major!"

"Not yet, Aunt Jenny." Laurel replied with a smile, "You're just about as bad as Daddy."

"I'm just excited for you." Jenny replied happily, "Music would have been much more fun than Political Science."

Gibbs snorted as he toed off his shoes. He knew how much Jenny loved music, even if she was only starting to get back into it when Kelly encouraged it, but he couldn't imagine her as anything other than an agent or the Director of NCIS or something similar.

"Don't make that sound." She chastised him teasingly, "I wanted to teach music when I was in high school but my father insisted I do something else."

This was a fact about her that he hadn't known but he could tell that she was serious, even if she was making light of it.

"Mami wanted me to be a nun…. But she also wanted grandkids so obviously that one won out." She added, using his arm to stabilize herself as she took off the simple tennis shoes she was wearing.

"More than a few times over." Linda commented, "Congratulations by the way." She added as she stepped over to Gibbs to give him a quick hug, "I wish you could've brought the kids."

"Next time." Jenny promised.

"Or you guys could come visit us." Gibbs added, "See the new house, meet the kids."

"Definitely an idea." Linda replied, giving Pride a pointed look, "If I can drag this one away from work long enough."

"I know the feeling." Jenny whispered.

"Hey!" Gibbs protested, "I've been good lately."

"Yes you have." Jenny conceded, "But I think that has more to do with the fact that you've been on desk duty until a few weeks ago."

"Tim, Ziver this is Linda, Pride's wife and their daughter Laurel." Gibbs stated, completely ignoring Jenny's statement.

He reached over and helped her to shed her light jacket as Ziva and Tim shook hands with everyone.

"You're the first ones here." Pride stated as he led them into the living room, "Christopher had to run home and and Sebastian should be here shortly."

"Supper smells good." Jenny commented.

"Homemade Gumbo" Pride said, "and a couple of other side dishes just in case somebody didn't like seafood."

"Did you make anything without pork or seafood?" Jenny asked, glancing over at Ziva.

"I will be fine." Ziva quickly stated, "I am not that strict anymore."

The two woman shared a look and Gibbs wasn't sure exactly what the problem was, for as long as he had known her Ziva hadn't been particularly careful to keep kosher, he knew for a fact that she ate Tony's bacon laden breakfast wraps and sausage and cheese pizza on a regular basis but he chose to remain quiet.

"Do you have an allergy?" Linda asked in concern.

"No." Ziva assured her, "I am Jewish but I have never been particularly strict with my diet, unless it is a high holiday, which it is not. I can assure you that I will enjoy whatever you and your husband have made."

"You're gonna love it, Ziver." Gibbs stated as he followed everyone into the living room.

He watched everyone take a seat and debated for a second before he took a seat next to Jenny on the couch. He saw the slightly surprised look on her face but he just shrugged, placed a hand on her knee and brushed his thumb back and forth.

"You're not the only one who keeps work and personal separate." He replied.

He knew Jenny was skeptical about showing affection in front of coworkers but he wasn't about to distance himself from her when they were surrounded by family.

He listened silently as Jenny caught up with Linda and Laurel and debated wandering into the kitchen to see Pride but Jenny's hand landed on his thigh after a few minutes and stayed there and he couldn't bring himself to move. She didn't even seem to realize that she had done it but he was enjoying it. His attention wandered from the woman sitting next to him to the conversation happening around him to finally wondering what was going on at home.

N*C*I*S

Dani looked up from her book and pushed her glasses up on her head with an unimpressed look as Jake bounded into the house. She had been enjoying some time to herself, Kelly had taken Ava to Mitch's to give Lydia a chance to do groceries and Jake had been at Diane's hanging out with Emily.

"Is there a reason you can't enter a house quietly?" She asked duly.

"You're in a bad mood." Jake commented, "Where's Aboulita?"

"Grocery shopping." Dani replied, "Go shower or something." She added waving him off, "I'm trying to read."

Jake rolled his eyes at her as he grabbed an apple out of the fridge before wandering out of the kitchen.

"You'd better bring the core back down here!" She called after him.

"Yeah, yeah!"

She rolled her own eyes and went back to the book in her hands, she would never admit it out loud but she was really starting to enjoy having younger siblings.

N*C*I*S

Mitch put down the pliers he was holding as he heard the familiar ringing of Kelly's cellphone emanating from inside her car. He wiped off his hands on the rag beside him and reached into the passenger seat to check the caller ID.

_Mom._

A picture of Jenny flashed across the screen letting him know that the older redhead was looking to FaceTime. He debated answering the call but finally decided in favour of it, not wanting Jenny to worry if Kelly didn't answer.

"Hey, ." He greeted, trying to contain his wince when he saw her surprised expression and the less than impressed look on Gibbs face, "Hey, Special Agent Gibbs." He added, trying to keep his voice confident.

"Why are you answering my daughters phone at seven o'clock at night in a garage that obviously isn't mine?" Gibbs asked, glaring at the camera.

"Kel took Stella to get a new leotard for dance, she knew what she needed better than I did and her car was making a weird noise so I offered to take a look at it." Mitch replied, "and before you ask she took my car, I didn't let her take her car anywhere, I think I got it fixed though."

"Where is my daughter?" Gibbs asked obviously exasperated at that point.

"Inside with the kids." Mitch replied, "She said something about wanting to get the baby to sleep before I finished."

"Can you just take the phone inside?" Gibbs asked.

"Of course." Mitch agreed.

"So how've you been, Mitch?" Jenny asked, trying to keep the conversation light.

"I've been good, how's your trip so far? Kelly said you were in New Orleans?"

"It's going really good." Jenny replied, "We just wanted to talk to Kelly so she could say hi to her aunt and uncle."

"Sure thing." Mitch assured her, "Just let me find her."

He kicked off his muddy boots at the back door and wandered through his small kitchen to his living room where he found Kelly laying on the couch, her eyes closed with Stella laying on her chest sound asleep, her arm was dangling off the couch and resting lightly on Ava's chest, the baby was sound asleep in her carseat. He flipped the camera on the phone around so Gibbs and Jenny could see his predicament.

"If you wake the kids up so help me God." She muttered, her voice tired.

"Your parents are on the phone." He whispered, honestly a little bit afraid of the woman laying on his couch.

"Give me two minutes to put her in bed." Kelly muttered, "I'll be right back."

He nodded and turned back into the kitchen lest he wake up his daughter or the baby, Kelly wandered into the kitchen two minutes later, two minutes filled with awkward conversation, her hair in a messy bun and her sweatshirt rumpled.

"Hi, Mom." She greeted quietly, "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Kiddo." Jenny replied her voice upbeat, "long day?"

"Yeah, Ava's teething again." Kelly replied, "she's been fussy since I got home, she didn't nap at all this afternoon and school was brutal."

"Did you do _anything _fun?" Jenny asked, concern written all over her face.

"I took Stella to the dance store to get a new leotard, it was fun seeing all of the costume stuff, bit of a blast from the past." Kelly replied, trying to sound a bit more upbeat, "Aboulita went to do groceries so I took the baby, Dani is at home and I think Jake is with Aunt Diane and Emily." She added.

Mitch heard something quietly bang in the other room and made a silent motion to tell Kelly he was going to check on the kids. She nodded and he wandered out of the room, he didn't have to look far before he found the source of the sound, Stella wandering down the hall her blanket clutched in one hand and one tiny fist rubbing her eye.

"Hey, Stella Bella." He said gently.

He scooped her up and cuddled her close before heading back into the kitchen where he was greeted by a small sigh when Kelly saw Stella awake. He shifted the toddler when she sleepily held her arms out to Kelly and traded Kelly the toddler for the cellphone.

"I'm going to have to call you guys back." Kelly said as Mitch turned the camera to her, "Can you say hi?" She said looking down at Stella who waved sleepily before burying her head in Kelly's neck, "I'll call you when I get home, then everyone can say hi to Jake and Dani too."

"Okay." Jenny replied, "Drive safely okay?"

"I will." Kelly promised, "Talk to you later, Love you."

Mitch waited as she finished exchanging goodbyes with everyone on the screen before ending the call.

"I can put her back to bed." Mitch offered.

He always felt guilty when Kelly did stuff around his place or helped to take care of Stella, those things weren't her problem but no matter what he said she was right there helping. She had been hesitant at first when it came to Stella but after close to a month of hanging out fairly regularly with them she was gaining more confidence when helping out with the toddler and Stella absolutely adored her. Even if Mitch didn't ask her to help he really did appreciate the extra hand, especially since his mother was busy with work.

"No I got it." Kelly assured him, "Thanks again for looking at my car."

"Least I can do." He replied with a shrug.

He felt like it was at least a little bit of a way to repay her for everything she did for him and Stella, even if it was just a little thing.

"I'll go finish up." He replied, "and then we can order a pizza or something if you want, my treat."

Kelly glanced at the clock on his stove and shook her head, "I'd love to but I should be getting home, I'd rather do the drive with the baby asleep than awake and screaming."

"Of course." He replied, "Maybe…"

He trailed off, he had been looking for a way to ask her out for weeks and now he finally had permission, although reluctant permission, from her parents to do just that and he couldn't quite work up the nerve. He valued her friendship way too much to risk ruining it, although they had been apart for twelve years she knew him in a way no one else did. She unfortunately understood exactly what it was like to lose a parent, especially in the way they both had. In a way she even understood what it meant to be responsible for another person, she had practically raised Jake for two years and had been actively involved in raising Ava since the day she had been born.

"Yeah?" She asked, shifting a now dozing Stella to her other hip.

"Did you wanna… I didn't want to ask you like this." He replied with a sigh.

"Ask me what?" She asked, her attention obviously on the toddler in her arms and not completely on him.

"Doyouwannagotodinnerwithme?" He asked, his words jumbled together.

"Can you translate that for me?" She replied with a small smirk.

"Do you want to go to dinner with me?" He asked again.

"We had dinner together the other day." She replied with a raised eyebrow.

"No I mean…" He took a deep breath, "Like a date."

"Oh." Kelly replied, her cheeks turning a bright red.

"I asked your parents, they said it was okay, but if you don't want to we can forget I even asked, I shouldn't have asked." He only stopped rambling when she held up her hand to silence him.

"I would like that." She admitted quietly, "Going to dinner I mean, not forgetting that you asked… But I want to talk to my parents about it first… Things are going really good with them right now and I don't want to mess that up."

"Take all the time you need." He replied, "and I get it… There's a lot to consider." He added, lightly nodding towards Stella.

He loved his daughter more than anything in the world and he would put her before anything but he didn't want Kelly to be dragged into something she wasn't ready for. He had already given up his teenage years for his daughter, and he did it happily most times but he didn't want Kelly to miss out because of him. He didn't want her bogged down with a responsibility that wasn't hers, and he knew Kelly and if she stepped into anything with him she would take Stella on with everything she had, she wouldn't be the girlfriend that took Daddy away. She also wouldn't try and overstep and he knew that, he didn't want her to have to try and balance a line that wasn't hers to balance.

Kelly held Stella closer against her and kissed the top of her head, "I know you're a package deal." She replied seriously, "I've known that since the beginning and I don't take that lightly."

He offered her a small smile and nodded, he knew she meant it and he trusted her more than almost anyone else in his life.

"Okay." He said, he reached over to brush his hand over Stella's curls and hesitated for a moment before dropping a chaste kiss to the top of Kelly's head, "I'm just… Gonna head back outside to finish up on your car."

N*C*I*S

Gibbs watched Jenny close out of the video chat with a glare, he knew nothing serious was happening between his daughter and the man on the other side of the screen, he had been very clear about what the boundaries were. He trusted Mitch enough to stay well within them but that didn't make it any easier to watch his baby girl growing up in front of his eyes.

Watching her with Ava and Stella reminded him that she wasn't far away from having children of her own, that if she decided to take her relationship with Mitch past friendship that she would have a child who wasn't a sibling as a huge part of her world. He knew Kelly had a good head on her shoulders and had a vague plan for the future that included college, he knew Mitch had learned from his mistakes and he wasn't worried about an accidental pregnancy but the idea that within ten years his daughter might be starting a family of her own scared the crap out of him.

He was broken out of his thoughts as Jenny settled a hand on his thigh and gave a gentle squeeze.

"She's smart." She whispered quietly enough that she wasn't heard over the surrounding conversation. "Like her Daddy."

"Or her mom." He countered quietly.

"I think in this case it's better that she's not like me." Jenny countered with a self depreciating laugh.

Gibbs opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Pride's arrival back into the room, he had been so caught up in his life that he hadn't even noticed him leaving. He felt Jenny's hand leave his thigh and noticed the three people trailing behind Pride. He recognized Special Agent Lasalle and he could bet that the other two were the Doctor Wade and Sebastian that Pride had mentioned.

"Miss Loretta, Sebastian meet Special Agents Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Tim McGee, Officer Ziva David and Director Jenny Shepard." Pride said, pointing them all out in turn.

"It's nice to meet you all." Loretta commented with a kind smile.

He knew instantly that he would like the woman in front of him, he raised an eyebrow when the lanky man standing behind her raised a hand in an awkward greeting.

"It's nice to meet you both." Jenny said kindly.

Gibbs watched his wife out of the corner of his eye, her hair was down loose around her shoulders, still done from the day but slightly more messy, she was wearing a simple t-shirt that had something written on it that he couldn't make out without his glasses and a pair of dark, lightly ripped jeans he was half sure belonged to Kelly that the two constantly passed back and forth. He was still baffled that she had ended up with him but he tried not to dwell on it too much, except to be thankful for his luck.

"You as well, Director." Sebastian replied nervously.

"Please, just Jenny." Jenny corrected quickly, "I leave Director Shepard at work."

He loved that she had started to leave Director Shepard at work, he knew in the beginning she had had a hard time with it but over time she had gotten better and better almost to the point that it was two separate people for her. He saw her shift next to him and tuck one of her legs under her in what he had come to know as her 'lounging position'.

He watched Sebastian and Loretta settle onto the couch across from them and grinned as Laurel flitted back into the room a happy grin on her face. He didn't know what she had been doing but she seemed quite pleased with herself.

N*C*I*S

Gibbs listened to the lively piano music, even going so far as to tap his finger along to the beat. It had only taken a few minutes of cajoling to convince Laurel and Dwayne to take a seat at the old upright in the living room and everyone was thoroughly enjoying the music. Jenny was leaning forward on the couch beside him, her elbows resting on her knees and her chin resting on top of her folded hands. It had been ages since he had seen her that relaxed, ages since he had seen her eat more than a mouthful here and there over dinner and he was enjoying watching her more carefree side come out.

He knew she loved being a mother, loved their children with all her heart but he also knew that the stress got to her and being away from it all was having a positive affect. Her shoulders were relaxed for the first time in ages and she was laughing with ease and even humming along to the music when she knew the song.

"Okay last song." Laurel announced, "I still have school in the morning."

"Sing for us dear." Loretta requested.

"I have a better idea." Laurel replied with a sly grin.

"Absolutely not." Jenny stated when the teen turned the grin to her.

Gibbs reached forward and ran his hand lightly up and down her back, he loved to hear her sing but he knew she wasn't all that comfortable with it still. It was more and more common when they were home alone with the kids but almost never happened when other people were around.

"I have not heard you sing in years." Ziva's comment was almost wistful and Jenny seemed to surrender under it.

"Fine." She conceded with a sigh, "Pick something I know and I apologize in advance."

"Okay, I've never actually heard the words to this one but I know you know them." Laurel said.

He saw Jenny look at their niece skeptically but she nodded, his hand was still resting on her back as Laurel played the opening chords of the song and he felt her tense before she hesitantly started to sing, her voice wavering slightly.

_"__I can normally drink you right off of my mind, I can normally push you right out of my heart but I'm too tired to fight, yeah the whole thing begins and I let you sink into my veins and I feel the pain like it's new, everything that we were, everything that you said, everything that I did and that I couldn't do, plays through, Tonight."_

He felt her take a shaky breath as Laurel sped up the music.

_"__Tonight you memory burns like a fire, with everyone it grows higher and higher, I just can't get over I just can't put out this love. I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back, close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreamin', come wake me up."_

By the end of the chorus her voice was stronger and she seemed more confident in herself as she continued. Laurel smiled over her shoulder as she listened to Jenny sing, her voice growing stronger and stronger with every word. He glanced around the room and saw a small but proud smirk on Pride's face, Ziva was listening her shoulders swaying slightly to the song, Tim and Sebastian were both wide-eyed as they watched the pair, Laurels hands flying over the keyboard and Jenny following, her voice now confident and full of emotion as she sang. Linda was leaning against the wall with a sad smile on her face and Loretta was listening with her eyes closed, soaking in the words. Jenny's voice grew softer and he shifted his gaze back to her.

_"__I know that you can't hear me but baby I need you to save me tonight."_

Her voiced echoed through the room as the piano grew louder, Laurel's hands were flying as Jenny launched into the chorus, her voice strong and her eyes closed as the song came to an end.

He removed his hand from her back and joined in with the clapping that filled the room, once again in awe of the woman he had married only two days before.

"I don't believe I've ever heard that before." Loretta commented when the clapping subsided, "Who wrote it?"

"Um." Jenny hesitated, "I did, seven and a half years ago."

He looked over at her in surprise and then quickly did the math in his head and really considered the words.

"I was shipped out to Afghanistan about two weeks after I finished it." She added, confirming Gibbs' suspicions.

She had written the song after she had lost Lillian, at her darkest hour when she had needed him most and he hadn't been there. He met Ziva's eyes across the room and he saw in her eyes that she had come to the same conclusion and judging by the look on her face she knew how much it hurt him.

"It was a lovely song." Ziva commented, "But I do believe it is best we return to the hotel now, it is not a good idea to be out too late."

He knew she was suggesting it for his sake and part of him wanted to argue. Instead he stood and offered Jenny his hand, he had just meant it as an aid to stand but she intertwined their fingers and leaned against him lightly. Everyone stood and exchanged goodbyes, it wasn't a drawn out affair, they were all tired and they would see each other in the morning anyway.

N*C*I*S

"I wrote that a long time ago."

The words were whispered against his back, her arms were wrapped around his waist and her head was resting between his shoulder blades. The ride back to the hotel had been silent and she had approached him as soon as they were alone, he didn't know if she was comforting him or herself with the contact.

"I know." He replied, resting a hand over the ones folded on his waist.

"I never meant for you to hear it." She added quietly, "If I had known she was going to do that I would have told her not to, I just didn't want to make a big deal out of it in front of everyone."

"It was a good song." He replied, "I don't know how you do that, how you write like that." He added, turning around and placing his hands on her cheeks to tilt her head up, "It's not the song… It's that you felt that alone and I was the reason."

"No." She whispered seriously, "I made my decision and it had nothing to do with you, and it was in the past, I'm definitely not alone now."

If he had anything to do with it she would never be alone again, he wanted to tell her as much but his actions had always spoken louder than his words. He tilted his head down and claimed her lips in a kiss, trying to tell her exactly what he was feeling without having to say a word.

His hands drifted from her cheeks down to her neck and finally settled on her waist, he pulled her closer and stepped forward so her entire body was pressed against the front of him. Her arms wound around his neck as she deepened the kiss. He heard her moan quietly against his lips, the sound sending blood south. This was normally the point where one of them backed off and slowed down the kiss but Jenny only stepped closer pressing more firmly against him and running her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck.

He trailed his lips across her cheeks and down her neck, stopping to nip over her pulse point before soothing the spot with his tongue. Her head fell back with another quiet moan and her hands came between them to run up and down his chest. His lips found their way over her collarbone as his hands came between her cardigan and shirt and ran up and down her back.

He rested his forehead on her shoulder and took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart, her smell surrounded him, her breathing was ragged in his ear and her hands were still running over his chest.

"You need to tell me to stop." He muttered.

"No." She replied as her hands pulled his polo shirt out of his khakis, "No." She repeated her lips right against his ear, "I want to feel you, all of you…"

"Don't want you to regret it."

"I'm not going to regret it." She replied, "I've been waiting for this for a long time" She pulled his head up so she could look him in the eyes, "I want to sleep with my husband."

It was the last word that did him in, the word to turn the fire in his gut into an inferno. He reached down and cupped her ass, putting enough pressure to tell her exactly what he wanted. She pressed her lips against his in a hungry kiss as she hopped up and wrapped her legs around his waist.

He turned and pressed her back against the wall behind them and tore his lips away from her to press them back against her neck. One hand stayed on her ass to support her and the other tangled in her hair.

He continued his exploration for a moment before deciding he needed to see more of her, feel more of her. He returned his other hand to her bottom and carried her over to the bed. He put her down on the edge gently. Her lips never left his as she pushed her sweater off while he bent down and toyed with the hem of her t-shirt.

"You sure?" He asked, his eyes meeting hers.

"One hundred percent."

He pulled her shirt off and took a second to study the sight in front of him, she was even more beautiful than he remembered, even with the new collection of scars. His eyes fell to her toned stomach and eyed the faded stretch marks over her abdomen, they made her even more gorgeous in his eyes. Her chest was flushed and he saw colour spread over her cheeks as he stared at her in awe.

"Not as young as I used to be." She muttered, not meeting his eyes, "I wasn't as careful about the stretch marks with Lilian as I was with Dani."

He wasn't sure what she meant, he hadn't been in the picture for either of her pregnancies and he had been deployed for most of Shannon's pregnancy with Kelly but he really didn't care. Looking back he couldn't remember her having any noticeable stretch marks, and he realized that maybe that's what she was talking about.

"Jesus, Jen."

The words came out as a soft whisper as he leaned over and laid her back on the bed, crawling over her and pressing his lips in the centre of her chest.

"You're gorgeous."

He had no idea how he had gotten as lucky as he had and he had every intention of showing Jenny exactly how amazing he thought she was.

**So A LOT happened here... I absolutely loved writing this chapter and I am so happy with the results... The song Jenny was singing is Wake Me Up by Rascal Flats, I claim no responsibility for that song I can write stories but not music, but please give the song a listen it is fantastic! I hope to hear from you guys, I own nothing.**

**~Katie**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

She opened her eyes slowly and breathed in the familiar and comforting scent of the man she had been using as a pillow. She felt Gibbs' arms tighten around her and she turned her head to drop a kiss to the centre of his chest. She had fallen asleep curled into his side but somehow during the night she had wound up on top of him, he didn't seem to be complaining and even tightened his arms around her when she tried to move.

"Good morning."

The words were muttered against her hair and she smiled into his chest at the groggy satisfaction in his voice.

"Morning." She replied, her voice quiet but content, "How did you sleep?"

"Good." He replied, "But then again I had a decent workout before bed."

She raised her head at the smugness in his voice, "Just decent?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty fantastic." He corrected, leaning forward to drop a kiss to her lips.

Fantastic didn't seem like a good enough word for the previous night, Jenny thought to herself. Perfect was better, it wasn't awkward like most 'first' times were, they knew each other well enough to know exactly what buttons to push and Gibbs had gone above and beyond to push all of them and even found a few new ways to make her moan. They had been able to laugh when Gibbs had fumbled kicking off his pants and when Jenny had stumbled while trying to pull Gibbs' shirt over his head. There had been serious moments, Gibbs' pause when he'd come across the deeper scars high up on her inner thighs that she was careful to keep hidden by long shirts or always wearing pants and the faded scars on her lower back that were only obvious when you were looking closely. His eyes had asked the question he couldn't bring himself to ask verbally and she had whispered a single word, 'Cairo'. She knew he was dying to ask more but he had refrained, instead placing gentle kisses over each and every one of her scars. She had caught him paying extra attention to the slightly faded stretch marks on her hips and lower abdomen. She had worked hard to regain the body she'd had pre-pregnancy but the stretch marks were still visible in some spots, a reminder that she knew would probably never fade. She had been careful with Dani, at twenty three she had been desperate to maintain her body, had done everything possible to prevent stretch marks and had mostly succeeded. She had been thirty when she had found out she was pregnant again and had every intention of raising her daughter, she simply hadn't cared enough to fight against the stretch marks and they had won out without much fight.

She felt his hand wandering up and down her back, pausing over her tattoos on each swipe before continuing on.

"What about you?"

"I'd say above average." She teased, a glint in her green eyes, "It was perfect." She added seriously, "Thank you."

"I think it's supposed to me sayin' that." He stated his signature half grin gracing his face.

She shrugged and pushed herself up on one hand, "You can thank me after." She said, glancing over at the clock, "We still have half an hour before the alarm goes off."

He raised an eyebrow at her impish grin, "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh I don't know…" She replied, doing her best to look innocent as she inched her way down until she was pulling the covers down with her, "I think I might be able to come up with something."

He threw his head back with a quiet groan as she licked across his abdomen, inches above where he really wanted her. She stopped her movement and waited until he looked down at her, she met his eyes and silently winked at him before lowering her head.

"You're gonna be the death of me." His declaration was followed by a strangled moan as she closed her mouth around him.

N*C*I*S

Jenny laughed as she watched Pride commandeer the kitchen at the NCIS office, Laurel sitting on the counter beside him watching whatever he was doing with what Jenny had no doubt was feigned interest. She poured herself another mug of coffee and filled up the cup beside hers, not adding anything to either before turning around to face the rest of the kitchen.

She pulled her phone out of her back pocket without comment when she saw Ziva sitting in a kitchen chair, Gibbs standing behind her with a comb in his mouth his hands tangled in her hair as he pulled it back into a tidy French braid.

"Didn't know you could braid, Gibbs." Linda commented as she came into the kitchen followed closely by Chris.

"Five girls." Gibbs replied as he confidently finished the braid and wrapped a small elastic around the end, "Ziver didn't believe I could."

Ziva ran her hand over her hair and nodded her approval at the tidy braid, "I have been proven wrong."

Jenny slid her phone back into her pocket with a small but sad smile, another image in her head of a very similar little girl with a very different man standing behind her. The same curly dark brown hair and eyes, had laughed at her as she had caught the scene on her nearby camera, the man behind her smirking.

_"__You must have nimble fingers to be a doctor." The man had stated, "And you do not have two sisters without learning." He had added. _

She knew Gibbs knew a very different Ari then she had, she had known the man who had loved his sisters, the man who had done anything and everything to make her feel welcome when she had first come to Israel, his trained eye recognizing the baby weight she had been unable to lose and the sadness in her eyes.

Jenny carried the mugs over to the table and handed one to Gibbs, turning her cheek to accept the kiss she knew was coming. Although they were in the NCIS building they weren't on the clock for another half hour and she knew that they would both take advantage of that, in subtle ways at least.

"I remember my dad could braid my sisters hair." Tim commented, "He wouldn't do it often but if he had a minute on the night before he got deployed he would, did your dad know how to?" He asked looking at Ziva.

Ziva glanced over at Jenny and shook her head slowly, "He was not that type of father." She stated, "It was my mother who did my hair until I was able to do it myself, I have never much liked my hair played with."

Jenny knew she was telling the truth, there were very few people Ziva trusted to get that close to her, Jenny had been allowed on occasion as well as Ari and now Gibbs but she knew that the list was short and rarely added to.

"It was my sister who enjoyed having her hair done." Ziva added unexpectedly.

"Did you do it for her?" McGee asked, seizing the rare opportunity.

"Occasionally, more often than not it was Jenny who was responsible for Tali, I was still serving in the military when Tali was entering that stage and my father was not overly involved in our upbringing, it was Jenny and… It was mostly Jenny there for her." Ziva replied, shutting down at the thought of her brother.

"Getting her ready for school was the hardest part." Jenny commented with a small laugh, "especially when everyone was home from assignment, it was always a circus when the four of us were around."

"You, Director David, Ziva and Tali?" McGee clarified.

Jenny realized her mistake as soon as McGee opened his mouth and she cleared her throat awkwardly, "Ziva, Tali, Ari and I." She corrected quietly, "Eli wasn't around all that much, like Ziva said I did most of the day to day with Tali. My job was more conducive to it and Eli's Nanny quit a few days after I arrived, I volunteered to watch her on my day off for an hour as a way to gain a few points and fell in love with the little girl I met. He still hired someone to watch her when I wasn't around but I did a lot."

"That was Tali's way." Ziva whispered, "Just a smile and you fell in love, her laughter was contagious… She was the best of us."

"Yeah." Jenny agreed quietly, "But her sister turned out pretty great too." She added, giving Ziva's shoulder a small squeeze, "I like to think I had a hand in that." She added in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Of course." Ziva agreed with a wink.

Despite the wink and playful tone Jenny could see the sadness in the younger woman's eyes and all she wanted to do was reach out for her, offer her any kind of comfort she could. Instead she leaned against the table and rested her hand on the back of Gibbs' neck, she knew Ziva wouldn't appreciate any sort of gesture in that moment and she needed something to occupy her hands to stop herself from doing something that would upset the Israeli woman.

Gibbs' arm snaked around her waist as he pulled her closer to where he was sitting just as Pride's cellphone began to ring on the counter. Judging by the look on Linda's face and the way Laurel's shoulders sagged as she saw the name on the caller ID Jenny seriously doubted they would be enjoying breakfast before work.

She listened as Pride got the information he needed from dispatch and glanced down to see Gibbs looking up at her hopefully.

"Go." She said a small sigh in her voice, "I'll hang out here while Tim runs the security checks on S.C.I.F, Ziva can stay as my security."

"You sure?"

"Yes." She assured him, "Go, behave yourselves."

"I make no promises, Darlin'." Pride replied over his shoulder as he kissed Linda and gave Laurel's shoulder a squeeze.

"I'm not telling you as a friend, I'm telling you as your boss." She said seriously.

"We'll be fine." Gibbs promised, "See you in a bit."

"Be safe." She added quietly enough that only he could hear her.

"I will." He whispered, leaning down to kiss her quickly.

She watched him nod to McGee and squeeze Ziva's shoulder before bolting after Chris and Pride.

"They're still children sometimes." Linda muttered, rolling her eyes as she took over making breakfast.

"Try adding four actual children on top of it." Jenny added with a small laugh.

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay I've been swamped with exam season and getting together my 12 days of Slibbsmas prompts for this year (Keep an eye out for that if you like Slibbs) I love to hear from you guys and all of your fabulous reviews have made a long, gross month way better!**

**~Katie **

**P.S Obviously I own nothing :(**


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